The Lazy River
by ShadeOfWine
Summary: Kou enters a contest and the entire swim club wins a vacation! Everyone's looking forward to a fun break after that stressful tournament, but none of them could possibly know what this trip has in store for them. The 1st chapter is a prologue that takes place directly after ep.7. Eventual Makoharu and some Reigisa.
1. Chapter 1

**Prologue:**

"This means I'll never swim with you again."

Haruka's eyes widened.

"Never."

Rin turned and jogged triumphantly over to his teammates with a wide grin, arms raised. Nitori called out to him enthusiastically. Haruka didn't notice any of this and remained in the pool. He felt like he couldn't breathe, and yet he was panting due to the very taxing race he had just had. He felt like his heart had stopped beating, and yet he could hear his pulse hammering away in his ears. He was truly frozen in place, unblinking and utterly blank. He didn't even move when a voice came over the loudspeaker asking all swimmers to clear the pool for the next race.

"Hey, you! In lane five! Get out of the water," one of the timers yelled.

"Come on, Haru." A kind voice said. Haru didn't look up, but he took the hand that he instinctively knew to be there and was pulled out of the water. "You…you really did great, Haru. Another personal best-"

"Save it, Makoto." Haru said, then turned and walked toward the locker room leaving his best friend standing there, worried.

Haruka made his way, briskly, yet somewhat clumsily through the locker room, passing gym bags, towels, and benches to get to the showers. He entered the last shower stall and closed the curtain behind him. He turned the knob only slightly to the left, and the cold water covered him as he slid down the wall and sat on the tiled floor. He didn't cry or lash out, instead he sat there with a million thoughts racing through his mind. His thoughts were racing so quickly, that he didn't even have time to grasp onto any particular one for more than a few seconds:

_It's happening to you again. It's happening to you again. It's happening to you again-_

_Your parents, your grandparents-_

_Why did you run away?_

_Why must you always run to water? _

_Now, he's left you too. _

_Why did you run away from Makoto? _

_Why couldn't you just break down and cry for once-_

_I never wanted this. I never wanted to be like this. _

_Just let it out, Haruka._

_Why can't you?_

_It's because they all leave you. All of them will. All of them will leave you-_

He tried to quiet his thoughts by focusing on slowing his heartbeat and breathing. He felt the water, cold and wonderful against his skin. The sensation calmed him. He imagined himself being consumed by it. Nothing but him, wrapped up in a calm, cool ocean like a never-ending blanket. No sound, no people. Nothing.

Eventually, Haruka stood up, shut the water off and left the stall. He wasn't sure how long he had been in there, but when he left the locker room and went outside, the sun was lower in the sky. As much as he didn't want to, he had to go find Makoto and the others. He made his way to the benches and found his teammates leaning over the railing, staring at the pool.

"Go, Mako-chan, go!" Nagisa cheered. Haruka's head swiveled to face the water and he saw Makoto swimming in one of the middle lanes, but he barely recognized him. He was swimming backstroke, tearing through the water like crazy. He usually was a ferocious swimmer, but this was something completely different.

When Haruka reached Nagisa he stood next to him and gripped the railing. He stared at Makoto, unblinking. Makoto's hands slammed into the wall seconds before any of the other swimmers could. Nagisa jumped up and down, Rei cheered loudly, Kou and Ama-sensi yelled and high-fived. And Haruka did nothing but stand there in awe.

After cheering for a moment, Nagisa suddenly turned toward him.

"Haru-chan! You're back!" He launched himself at Haruka and hugged him tightly, "I'm so happy you're back! We were all worried about you." He patted Nagisa on the head and glanced around at the others. Rei adjusted his glasses, and Kou and Ama-sensei smiled at him.

"You know you beat your personal record," Said Kou excitedly.

"You were truly great," said Ama-sensei, "and you know, a time like this makes me think of that famous quotation from-"

"Mako-chan," Nagisa yelled, cutting her off. He detached himself from Haruka and ran over to him, "you were amazing! I've never seen you swim that intensely before!'

Makoto grinned, "Thanks, Nagisa." He looked up and when he saw Haruka, his expression changed from happy to surprised to worried within a matter of milliseconds. "Haru, are you-"

"You were great, Makoto," said Haruka.

"That really was amazing, Makoto-sempai! How did you manage to significantly improve your time so quickly? Can you teach me how to do that?" Rei was now standing in front of Makoto asking him all sorts of scientific questions, but Makoto's eyes were fixed solely on Haruka's. Haruka broke the eye contact and sat down on the bench. He didn't move or say another word until it was time to leave.

Eventually, it was night and Haruka and Makoto were walking to their houses after being dropped off by Ama-sensei. They walked in silence at first, even remaining silent when Makoto chose to walk with Haruka up the staircase to his home. However, the silence was broken when Haruka tried to open the door.

"Well, goodnight," he said.

"Hold on," Makoto grabbed Haruka's left wrist as he tried to enter his house.

"What is it?"

"Where did you go after your race? You were gone for awhile and we were worried about you. _I_ was worried about you." Haruka turned around to reluctantly face his best friend.

"What does it matter? I'm okay, Makoto. Really."

"Don't lie to me, Haru. You know that I know what you're thinking. You just want me to leave so you can go sit in your bathtub for the rest of the night."

Haruka's eyes widened. "No, I'm not. I'm going to make some mackerel, then go to bed."

"You're lying." Haruka averted his gaze away from Makoto, "I want to help you, Haru, but I can't help you unless you talk to me. You can pretend that whatever happened between you and Rin isn't a big deal, but it is and-"

"Just drop it, Makoto. I don't want to talk about this." Haruka walked into his house and shut the door behind him. He walked upstairs, stripped down to his bathing suit, filled the tub and immersed himself in the water for hours.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: Thanks for the positive feedback, thus far! This chapter's mostly just build-up. We'll get into more exciting things soon enough. Enjoy!**

* * *

One week later:

"Hey, Rei-chan. Something seems off, doesn't it?"

Rei stopped stretching for a moment and looked up at Nagisa, who was towering over him quizzically. After thinking for a moment, he stood up and glanced around. Everything seemed normal. Haruka was currently swimming laps, Makoto was crouched next to the pool watching him, and Ama-sensei was sitting under an umbrella with a book. It did seem quieter than usual, though.

"Oh," Rei said in realization, "our manager is missing!"

"You're right! It's weird not having Gou-chan constantly nagging us about improving our times..."

Kou had been trying out various new regimens over the past week. She had become more obsessed with improvement than even Rei. This was do to the fact that even though both Nagisa and Makoto ended up in the finals at the tournament, neither had won or placed. Rei did well in his race for a beginner, but he was nowhere near advancing.

No one had talked about Haruka's race. Makoto told everyone not to mention it around him.

Just as Rei was about to start hypothesizing about Kou's whereabouts, the door to the locker room opened and she jogged into the pool area excitedly.

"I have some great news, everyone! Gather around," she called out.

It took a little bit of effort to get Haruka out of the water, but soon they were all sitting in a circle by the side of the pool.

"Okay, so during the tournament last week I went for a walk with the Samezuka captain between heats and-"

"Eh?! Really, Gou-chan? You must have really used your sex appeal to lure the captain away from such an important tournament," Nagisa interrupted.

"I did not!"

"Are you sure-"

"It doesn't matter, just stop interrupting me!" Kou exclaimed, blushing slightly. "Anyway, during our walk we came across a few booths. Some were selling food or drinks, but one was a contest booth. I decided to enter our names and, well…we've won a vacation!"

"What?!" Everyone including Ama-sensei asked in unison.

"We've won a seven-day vacation to Hawaii and we're leaving next week," she began to pass around packets of papers, "here are some more details. I was late today because I went to go pick these up, as well as our boarding passes. I also notified our school and they said they would treat this as a field trip, so it shouldn't interfere with our grades or anything…I actually have no idea how I pulled that off…"

"Sex appeal," said Nagisa with a wink and a thumbs up.

"Shut up," Kou said, visibly annoyed.

"Wow, a vacation in Hawaii! I've never been, but I've read some lovely things about it. Now I'm _really _glad that I decided to be your supervisor."

"You mean that before this you weren't glad, Ama-chan-sensei?" Makoto asked.

"Um…well…"

"I think we should end practice early. Go home and read over the details and we can talk about this more tomorrow." Kou said.

"Good idea, Gou-chan. I'm much too excited to swim right now!" said Nagisa, springing to his feet.

"I'm not," Haruka said flatly.

Makoto stood and offered Haruka a hand, "come on, Haru. You can swim tomorrow. And just think about all the swimming we're going to do on vacation." Haruka's eyes widened and he grabbed Makoto's hand.

Everyone left practice and went their separate ways. Soon, Nagisa and Rei stood side by side at the train station, both reading over the details in their respective packets:

_Dear Iwatobi swim club members,_

_Congratulations! You've won a seven-day vacation to Oahu, Hawaii. Your flight leaves next Wednesday and after a little over eight hours of flight time, you will arrive in Honolulu where a rental car will be waiting for you._

_Your hotel is only about a half-hour's drive away. You will be staying at Honu Resort in the beautiful Ko Olina resort area. You will be given three rooms to share between the six of you._

Nagisa stopped reading. "Hey, Rei-chan."

"Yes?"

"It says here that we're sharing rooms. Do you want to share with me?"

Rei adjusted his glasses. "Don't you want to ask Haruka-senpai to share with you like you did when we trained on that island?"

"I want to share with you, Rei-chan! Plus, I'm willing to bet that Haru-chan and Mako-chan will share a room, so we might as well."

"Oh, so I'm your back-up plan, is that it?" Rei looked down at his feet.

Nagisa laughed and grinned widely as the train pulled up in front of them.

"Hey, Haru have you read this, yet?"

"No, I haven't." Haruka's attention was fixed solely on the ocean to his right. The sun was just starting to set over the calm, glistening water. He tripped and would have fallen if Makoto hadn't grabbed his arm at the last second.

"Be careful, Haru. You should probably watch where you're walking instead of staring at the ocean." For the first time since they had started walking home, Haruka looked at Makoto who was now smiling down at him. "Anyway, it says here we'll be sharing rooms."

Haruka didn't respond.

"Do you want to room with me, Haru?"

"Yeah, sure. I figured we'd be doing that anyway."

"Hm, really? You stayed with Nagisa on that island I thought that maybe you'd want to do that again."

"He talks in his sleep. A week of listening to that would be a real pain." They had reached the stone staircase that lead up to Haruka's house.

"Oh, do you want to come over for dinner tonight? Ren and Ran have been asking about you constantly. We could also talk about the trip some more."

"Sure," Haruka said already climbing up the stairs.

"Okay! Be at my house in an hour." Makoto called, a hand cupped to his mouth. He stood there and stared, smiling at Haruka's back until he couldn't see him anymore.


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: The vacation has started!**

**Anyway, thanks again for the continued feedback. This is my first fanfic, so I'm glad people seem to be enjoying it, thus far. Thanks for reading! :)**

* * *

On the morning of the flight, Haruka woke up when the sky was still black. His alarm clock blared from across the room, and he let it go off for a few moments before reluctantly getting out of bed to shut it off. He flipped a light switch, rubbed at his dry eyes, swaying back and forth slightly as advice from Ama-sensei played in his head:

_"Time zone-wise, we're nineteen hours ahead of Hawaii, so sleep well beforehand because it's going to be a long day. The jet lag's bound to be terrible…"_

Haruka hadn't been sleeping well over the past couple of weeks. He had been spending hours soaking in the waters of his bathtub and when he got out, he would sprawl across his bed while his mind wandered noisily. That morning, he estimated that he had woken up after a measly three hours of sleep.

_There's nothing I can do about that_, he thought, _I have to finish packing_. He sighed and stared down at the suitcase sitting on the floor by the end of the bed. It was mostly full, but was missing a few crucial items. _Now,_ he thought as he walked over to his dresser and opened the top drawer, _which swimsuits should I bring with me?_

It took him almost a half hour to finish deciding. _No time for mackerel this morning_, he thought. Ama-sensei would be picking Makoto and him up in twenty minutes. He donned his backpack and walked out of his house, wheeling his suitcase behind him. When he made it down the stone staircase he was surprised to see that Makoto wasn't waiting for him. He checked the clock on his phone. It was only ten minutes before Ama-sensei was to arrive. _Where is he? _ Haruka wondered and went to go knock on the Tachibana's front door. He knocked three times, but no one answered. Leaving his backpack and suitcase outside, he quietly opened the door and snuck into Makoto's home.

It was dark, even though the sunrise had begun at that point, but Haruka knew the way to Makoto's room. He avoided the creaky spots on the stairs and floorboards and somehow navigated around a toy car that either Ran or Ren had left out. He placed an ear against Makoto's door. It was quiet.

"Makoto?" Haruka whispered and tapped lightly on the door. He didn't want to wake up the rest of his family, as it was still very early. There was no response, so Haruka opened the door to find Makoto still asleep on his back with one arm thrown over his stomach. Haruka couldn't exactly tell, but he appeared to be sleeping without a shirt on. He sighed and walked over to the bed and put a hand on Makoto's bare shoulder. "Makoto? Makoto. It's time to get up," he shook his friend. Soon a groan escaped from Makoto's mouth and his eyes fluttered open.

"H-Haru…what time is it?

"Time to get up. Ama-sensei will be here any minute."

"Ama-chan-sensei? Why?"

"Have you really forgotten that our vacation begins today? I hope you've pack-"

Makoto sat up abruptly, "that's today?! How did I forget to set my alarm?" He sprung out of bed and turned the lights on. "It's good that I packed yesterday. Let me just get a few things ready." He turned around and smiled at Haruka who was now sitting on the bed. His smile faded when they made eye contact, "Hey, did you get any sleep last night?"

"Y-yeah. Of course I did," Haruka looked down, "I did, however get up early, unlike someone I know."

"This actually does feel strange, you know?" Makoto asked, ignoring the latter part of Haruka's statement.

"Hm?"

"Usually you're the one who's late and I have to get you from your house. I don't think you've ever come to get me before."

Haruka was silent.

"Thanks, Haru." Makoto smiled and Haruka took a moment to take in the sight of his best friend. He had never seen him like this before. His hair was ruffled, his eyes sleepy. The only thing he was wearing was a pair of green boxers. He used his right arm to stretch his left across his chest. His muscles were just waking up, as well. He went over to his dresser and dug out a shirt and some shorts and got dressed. For some reason Haruka couldn't help but watch every move he was making. _I must be more tired than I thought_.

Soon, Makoto was ready and they made their way to the street just as Ama-sensei pulled up.

"I'm so excited, guys!" Nagisa exclaimed.

"You certainly seem awake and ready to go, Nagisa," said Makoto.

"Of course I am! We're going to Hawaii!"

"Hawaii!" Kou repeated from the front seat. And then the six of them took off for the airport.

* * *

Two hours later, they were seated on the plane, prepared for takeoff. Nagisa, Rei, Kou, and Ama-sensei sat in a row in the middle and across the aisle on the right sat Makoto and Haru. Haru had quickly claimed the window seat so he could spend the eight-hour flight staring at the ocean. The flight took off on time and about an hour in, they began the in-flight movie, which just so happened to be _Finding Nemo_.

"One of your favorites, Haru!" Makoto had said when the announcement was made.

"How would you know that?"

"We saw it together in theaters, don't you remember? Not to mention that your eyes light up whenever you see how beautifully that water is animated."

Haruka had turned his head away from Makoto and huffed as if that wasn't true at all. However, sure enough Haruka became engrossed in the movie almost instantly.

Across the aisle, Nagisa was also watching the movie closely and excitedly.

"So, is this movie as good as everyone makes it out to be?" Rei had asked before it began.

"What? Rei-chan, how have you never seen this movie? It's a classic."

"Why would I waste my time watching children's movies?" He adjusted his glasses, "They're not beautiful. Not at all."

"This one is, Rei-chan," Nagisa had said clamping a hand on Rei's shoulder, "I promise."

Surely enough, both of them were completely immersed in the movie within the first ten minutes. By the hallway point, Nagisa could swear he had heard Rei muttering, "Beautiful," a handful of times. However around the time in the movie where Darla makes her appearance, Nagisa's eyelids grew heavy and he placed his head on Rei's shoulder.

"Hey, are you falling asleep? But we've just reached such an exciting part of the movie," Rei said.

"I'm not sleeping, Rei-chan. I'm just resting my eyes." However, soon Nagisa's breathing had slowed and it was obvious that he had fallen asleep. Rei used his one free arm to unwrap one of the free blankets that they had received upon boarding, and draped it over Nagisa. He then proceeded to watch the rest of the movie in silent awe.

Next to him, Kou was also watching the movie excitedly. However, Ama-sensei had her nose in a book and her eyes were intensely scanning the pages.

"Aren't you gonna watch the movie at all, Ama-chan-sensei?" asked Kou.

"I've been meaning to read this book for months now. And now that we're finally on vacation, I have time to read it. I even brought a few more in my suitcase. Hopefully, I'll be done with this one by the time we land!"

_Vacations aren't really for reading_, Kou thought, but she decided to just stay quiet and watch the movie.

Back across the aisle, both Makoto and Haruka were watching the movie as well, but Makoto's eyelids had begun to droop and he had to keep snapping his head up to stay awake.

"You should sleep," Haru said.

"You're right, but I don't think I can sleep sitting straight up like this."

Haruka paused for a moment. "You can sleep on my shoulder if you want."

"You sure you'll be able to fall asleep with me sleeping on your shoulder?"

"I don't need to sleep."

Makoto frowned. "I know you haven't been sleeping well, Haru. You can't hide stuff like that from me. You know that, right?"

Haruka stayed silent.

"Fine, but promise me you'll at least try to sleep at some point, Haru. It's important, especially now that we're going to such a different time zone."

"Fine. I promise."

Makoto smiled, removed his headphones from the audio jack in his armrest, plugged them into his mp3 player, wrapped himself in a blanket, scooted himself several inches downward, and then snuggled into Haruka's shoulder.

When the movie ended, Haruka decided to at least try to sleep. He noticed that one of Makoto's ear buds had dislodged itself. Leaning his head against Makoto's, he took the ear bud and placed it in his own ear. It only took a few minutes for Haruka to drift off to sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note: Hi! Thanks again for the reviews, favorites, and follows. I really do appreciate it! **

**One more thing: I've been able to update relatively quickly, thus far. However, I'm moving back to school tomorrow and I have a night job, so I probably won't be able to update AS quickly. But, that might just mean that instead of every 2 days, it might be every 3-4 days. If anything, this might improve my writing as I'll be thinking about it for longer periods of time. Anyway, I'm really enjoying writing this and I hope you enjoy reading this as well!**

* * *

When their plane landed in Hawaii, it was nine o'clock at night Honolulu time. All six of them couldn't help feeling confused as they disembarked from the plane. Japan was nineteen hours ahead of them.

"It's like traveling back in time isn't it, Rei-chan?" Nagisa asked, his usually enthusiastic demeanor had diminished.

"I suppose. Jet lag really is a curious thing."

They wandered out of the airport and straight across a road to get to the rental car place. They were given a mini van that fit the six of them and their luggage comfortably. Ama-sensei sat in what she thought was the driver's seat, only to find that there was no wheel.

"Huh?" She looked over at Kou who was surprised to see the wheel in front of here. "Oh," she laughed, "I completely forgot that Americans drive on the opposite side that we do!"

"Uh, Ama-chan-sensei, are you sure you'll be able to adjust to such a drastic change so quickly?" Makoto asked nervously.

"I'm sure I'll be able to. It shouldn't feel _too_ different…I hope." She and Kou switched sides and Kou began to navigate the way to the resort using her phone. Most of the trip went by without a hitch, except for one incident when Ama-sensei took a left turn into the left lane and almost drove headfirst into a truck.

"Ama-sensei! Look out!" Kou had yelled. Makoto had grabbed Haruka's sleeve and screamed, and Nagisa had grabbed onto Rei so tightly that Rei thought he'd pass out due to lack of oxygen. Fortunately, Ama-sensei was able to swerve out of the way, but just barely.

"Nagi..sa…please let…go of me…" Rei choked out.

"Ah, I'm sorry, Rei-chan!"

It didn't take them too long to reach their resort. From what they could see in the dark, it was beautiful. It was tall, wooden, and had a colorful exterior covered in elaborate painted sea turtles and dolphins.

"Why aren't there any rockhopper penguins?" Nagisa asked.

"You don't really expect there to be any penguins in Hawaii, do you?" Rei responded.

"There are dolphins, though," said Haruka. He stared at the dolphin paintings and didn't even realize that the others had walked away to the reception desk. After a moment, Makoto returned.

"Those dolphins really are beautiful aren't they, Haru?"

"Yeah." They stood there for a moment before Makoto said that they were going to be left behind if they didn't go inside.

The lobby was as intricate as the outside was. There were gorgeous paintings of the ocean and hibiscus flowers. A slight, warm breeze blew through the windows. They all received room keys and took the elevator up to the tenth floor, where they discovered that they had gotten three rooms in a row. Haruka and Makoto took room 1012, Nagisa and Rei took room 1014, and Kou and Ama-sensei were in 1016. They explored what would be their living space for the next seven days.

Upon entering, there was a kitchen and an island with two chairs to the left. Straight ahead, there was a small living room complete with a couch and television. On the right wall by the TV, there was a bathroom. And on the right close to the entrance, there was a bedroom with two double beds, a desk, and another TV. Paintings of beaches covered the walls. The best part of all three of the rooms was their balconies, which overlooked the ocean. Haruka noticed the balcony before Makoto, and immediately walked past the couch and slid the door open. He stared out at the ocean, black except for the moonlight with illuminated some of the waves. He heard the waves collide with the shore and felt at ease. Before long, Makoto joined him on the balcony.

"It's a beautiful night, isn't it?" He asked, not expecting a response. He didn't get one. Haruka was too busy staring out at the water.

Suddenly, Makoto clutched the railing, his heart pounding, his palms sweaty. _What's happening?_ He thought, as his breathing quickened. He inhaled slowly and deeply. Haruka turned to face him.

"Makoto, are you okay?"

"I-I think I am," but then he turned, slid down the railing with his back.

"You're not." Haruka sat down to face him, "it's the ocean. It's night. The last time you saw the ocean at night…" Haruka trailed off.

Makoto realized that although his fear of the ocean was better than it had been in the past, it wasn't gone. His mind flashed to him waking up in a tent, seeing Rei gone, then to him jumping in the ocean to save him from drowning. He remembered waking up to Haruka on the beach, in the dark and in the rain. He felt cold. So cold, so suddenly. He shivered, despite the warmth of the air around him.

"N-no. I'm sure I'm just feeling a little off from being on a plane all day. You know, I'm not used to it. I've never left the country or anything," he laughed and smiled, but it was forced. Haruka stared at him skeptically.

"Let's go inside," He stood and offered Makoto a hand, "It's almost eleven. We should try to sleep, after all we have a full day of swimming tomorrow." They walked back into their room, changed into their pajamas, and got under the covers in their respective beds. Haruka had claimed the one by the bedroom window.

"Hey…Haru?"

"Hm?" There were many things that Makoto wanted to say or ask, but he realized that couldn't. He felt out of sorts for a variety of reasons. The flight was one reason, for sure, the flashback to Rei drowning was another, but there was something he couldn't put his finger on. It was something that made him feel lightheaded and caused him to hear his heart pummeling away in his ears. He felt like he was trying to find something in a dark room, grabbing blindly without knowing what he was actually looking for.

"I hear they have a lazy river at this resort. Have you ever been in one?" He managed to ask.

"No," Haruka said. He sounded intrigued.

"You love floating in water, Haru. Do you want to try it tomorrow?"

"Sure," Haruka responded, "I think I'd like that."

There were a few moments of silence, and then Haruka said, "Good night, Makoto."

"Good night, Haru." It took them both a long time before they actually managed to fall asleep.


	5. Chapter 5

Everyone slept in the next morning, still feeling the full effects of their jetlag. Eventually, Kou went around knocking on doors until all six of them were seated or standing around the island in her and Ama-sensei's kitchen.

"Alright, everyone. As your manager, I took it upon myself to create an itinerary for our time here," Kou said. She opened a folder and removed four sheets of paper, which had an identical calendar, printed on each one and handed them out to the four boys. "I figured that today, as we're all still tired and confused about what day it actually is, we could take it slow and explore the resort, the pool area, and the ocean."

Haruka's eyes widened at the mention of water, "Let's go now." He turned to leave, but Nagisa held him back.

"Wait, Haru-chan! We haven't even had breakfast yet!"

"Well, it's a little late for breakfast. We should do lunch," Rei suggested.

"Way ahead of you. I made reservations at the café downstirs for twelve-thirty, so we'll have to head down there in a few minutes," said Kou.

"A few minutes?" said Ama-sensei who was still wearing an exfoliating mask, "I have to get ready!" She rushed into the bathroom and everyone returned to their rooms to change out of their pajamas. After Makoto changed, he glanced over the calendar that Kou had given them:

_Wednesday: Lunch at Honu Café at twelve-thirty._

_Buy groceries. (Ama-sensei can do this.)_

_Explore resort, pool area, and swim._

_Dinner in room._

_Thursday: Breakfast or lunch in room._

_Visit the Valley of the Temples and Laniakea Beach._

_Scenic drive around Oahu._

_Dinner TBD._

_Friday: Visit the Dole Plantation._

_Lunch at Honu Café at two p.m._

_Rest of the day is a free day._

_Dinner in room._

_Saturday:_ _Honolulu Zoo._

_Lunch and dinner TBD_

_Sunday: Waikiki Beach and shopping in Honolulu._

_Lunch and dinner TBD._

_Monday: Free day. Swimming, beach, etc…_

_Lunch and dinner in room._

_Tuesday: Lunch in room._

_Dolphin watch._

_Dinner at Coral Bistro._

_Wednesday: Fly home._

_There's a good mix of activities here,_ Makoto thought. He was glad that Kou had volunteered to be their manager. After Haruka finished changing, they both headed downstairs to the café to meet the others.

The café was in a beautiful location of the hotel. Half of it was inside, but the other half was outside right next to the beach. Fortunately, their table was in the outside part so they could enjoy their food and the view at the same time. Haruka had immediately claimed the chair closest to the wooden railing that separated the beach and the café. He stared at the ocean until Makoto gently nudged him to tell the waitress what he wanted.

"Mackerel again, huh?" Makoto had asked.

"Don't you want to try anything new, Haru-chan? We're on vacation!" Nagisa said.

"No," said Haruka bluntly, still staring at the ocean.

"So, what do you think of the itinerary?" Kou asked.

"I think it's wonderful," Said Ama-sesnei, "there's variety, but also plenty of time to relax." Everyone agreed, except Haruka who said:

"It needs more water."

Kou sighed, "I knew you were going to say that."

"Are you sure you're okay getting the groceries by yourself, Ama-chan-sensei?" Makoto asked.

"Yes, I'll be perfectly fine. I'll go right after we finish eating, then I'll meet you guys at the pool or at the beach when I get back," she responded with a smile.

After lunch, they all changed into their bathing suits, except for Ama-sensei who left to do the shopping, and Haruka because he already had his on. When they made it back down, all of their eyes widened when they saw how gorgeous the pool area was. There was a large pool right in front of them, surrounded by exotic green plants and palm trees. To their left there was a vey tall and twisty water slide, and to their left, there was the lazy river that wound all over the place, like a snake. Part of it was covered by a dark cave. Kou decided to walk straight to the beach to sunbathe. "Tell Ama-sensei that I'm at the beach if any of you see her," she had said.

"Rei-chan! Rei-chan! Come on the water slide with me!" Nagisa begged.

"B-but, it's so high up," He stammered.

"Come on! It'll be fun, I swear!" And without saying a word to either Makoto or Haruka, Nagisa dragged Rei towards the slide eagerly.

"So, wanna do the lazy river?" Makoto asked when Rei and Nagisa were out of sight.

Haruka nodded and they walked to the mouth of the river. It was a crowded day and most of the inner tubes were being used. There was only one left and it was made for a single person. "Do you want the tube, Haru?" Makoto asked with a smile.

"No, you can take it," He responded and submerged himself in the water before flipping over on to his back. Makoto grinned and followed him, wearing the inner tube around his chest to float. Soon, Haruka was getting visibly annoyed because children kept bumping into him with their inner tubes or splashing him accidentally. He stood up.

"How about you hold on to the back of the tube and I can walk us through the river?" Asked Makoto.

"You sure? That's not very relaxing for you."

"I don't mind," Makoto said, and after a moment's hesitation, Haruka gripped the tube and began floating on his stomach. Makoto stood and slowly walked, letting the current carry them through the water. Haruka closed his eyes. Looking back at him, Makoto couldn't help but smile at how calm he looked as he drifted. It almost looked like he was sleeping. All of a sudden, the feeling that he had gotten the previous night returned. He turned around so that he was facing forward, and he felt a blush appear on his cheeks. _What's wrong with me?_ He wondered, but not for long because the cave had appeared in front of them.

He hadn't noticed, but all of the kids had disappeared. It was quiet. It was just Haruka and him alone in front of an impossibly dark cave. Makoto stopped short and Haruka opened his eyes sleepily. "H-Haru, what do you think's in there?" He asked.

Haruka stood, "Let's find out."

Makoto tossed the tube aside, realizing that he didn't want a barrier between him and Haruka. He moved closer and reluctantly followed him into the darkness.


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's note: Hi! A bit of a shorter chapter here, but it's a very important one. ;)**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

The cave was silent, except for the sound of water sloshing against the walls. There was some light still, which shone from behind them, but the cave darkened with every few steps that they took. As the light faded, Makoto reached forward and grabbed Haruka's right arm. He instinctively gripped on to his hand. Haruka was taken aback, but only briefly. His mind quickly flash-backed to memories of them holding hands. It lingered on the memory of the day they saw the funeral procession for the boating accident. He'd never forget the fear that was displayed so prominently in his friend's eyes. His fingers wound around Makoto's. It was almost completely black, which Makoto was somewhat grateful for. The blush had returned to his cheeks.

He was scared, though. He had never been a big fan of the dark. He thought, for a moment, about when he had felt anxious the previous evening. Looking at the ocean in the dark at terrified him. He couldn't help but think about every, possible, terrifying thing that could be lurking under the surface of the water. He heard his heart beat in his ears and felt his muscles shake involuntarily. "H-Haru, do you think we should go back?"

"The current's flowing this way," he heard Makoto gulp, "it'll be fine. This is a resort pool. There's nothing scary here."

Makoto really wanted to believe Haruka, but he couldn't quiet his mind or his fears.

They took a few more steps before something unexpected happened. The cave walls exploded with color and light. The cave was covered in neon lights shaped like fish, turtles, and underwater plants. Greens, yellows, pinks, and blues danced before their eyes. It was amazing. Somehow, all the animals appeared to be swimming along, happily. It was an elaborate coral reef. Neither of them had ever seen anything like it, and both of their jaws had dropped instantly.

"How did they even make this?" Makoto wondered out loud. Haruka was too engrossed in the light show to respond.

Makoto turned and looked at him. Haruka's wet, dark hair was stuck to his forehead. His blue eyes were wide open. His mouth was still agape. Makoto could see the lights flash in his eyes and on his skin. A drop of water had dripped from his hair to his cheek, and there were many more droplets on the skin of his neck and chest. He looked beautiful. Makoto couldn't stop that thought from entering his mind. And at that moment time had frozen, as he realized something. He realized why he had felt so anxious, lately. He was in love with his best friend. He was in love with Haruka Nanase.

He averted his gaze. _Oh, no,_ he thought, _this is bad._ After he took a moment to collect his thoughts, he turned and found that Haruka was now looking at him with a slightly bemused expression on his face. "Is everything okay, Makoto?"

"Y-yeah! Everything's great! I'm totally fine!"

"In that case, would you mind letting go of me? I can't feel my hand anymore." Makoto had forgotten that he was holding Haruka's hand. His grip had apparently tightened. It must have happened when the lights came on so suddenly.

"Ah, I'm sorry!" He said and backed away from Haruka a bit too quickly. He fell backwards into the water. He quickly surfaced, feeling embarrassed.

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"Positive!" Haruka stared at him for a few more seconds, and then began to walk forward. Makoto stood there, staring at his back. He had stared at Haruka's back so many times over the years as he walked up the stairs to his house. This time felt different. His feeling of anxiety had returned and he quickly decided that he didn't want to keep feeling like this. He ran and grabbed Haruka's arm. "H-Haru, wait. I-" He paused when he saw Haruka look back at him. For a moment, his confused expression had returned. However, something else took its place and Makoto could have sworn he saw a blush appear on his face before he blinked and turned his head aside.

"What is it, Makoto?" It was no use; Makoto couldn't muster up the courage to say anything. Instead, he did something impulsively. He faced Haruka and placed his hands on either shoulder. For what felt like minutes, they gazed into each other's eyes, and then Makoto leaned forward and placed a light, quivering kiss onto Haruka's lips. Haruka's eyes widened in shock and his face felt so hot, so suddenly. After a few seconds, he couldn't help but think that the pressure on his lips felt nice.

Makoto pulled away. "Uh-um, th-thank you for a-always being there…for m-me," he said pathetically. He took a deep breath and tried to calm himself, "y-you mean so much to me, Haru." They stood there awkwardly for a moment, and then Makoto walked away and it was Haruka's turn to stare at his back. A million thoughts ran through both of their minds.


	7. Chapter 7

After they had exited the cave, they decided to get out of the river. "Makoto, I'm going to go to the beach for awhile," said Haruka. Makoto nodded and gazed at him until he was out of sight. When he was sure that Haruka could no longer see him, he walked over to a table by a snack bar and sunk down into a chair. He put his head in his hands.

_I shouldn't have done that_, he thought, _how am I supposed to know if Haruka's gay? And even if he is, I don't know if he likes me. He might even hate me, now…_He rubbed the back of his neck and exhaled.

"Mako-chan, Mako-chan!" He heard someone yell. He looked around, but didn't see anyone familiar. The yelling persisted until he looked upward and saw Nagisa and Rei standing on the platform for the waterslide. It really was high up. It was difficult to tell, but it looked like Rei was trembling. Makoto chuckled and waved. "Come over here, Mako-chan! Watch us go down the slide!"

"Okay!" He called back, stood up and walked over to the end of the slide. A few children came rocketing out, laughing and screaming simultaneously, but after that Nagisa and Rei came shooting out. Makoto actually heard them before he saw them. Nagisa was laughing with delight and Rei's screams had echoed throughout the plastic of the slide. When Makoto saw them, he couldn't help but laugh. They had found a two person inner tube, Nagisa was sitting in front with Rei in the back, clutching onto him with both his arms and his legs.

When they had popped out of the water Nagisa turned to look at Rei, "Wasn't that fun, Rei-chan?"

"That's the fifth time you've made me ride that thing! Can we please do something less terrifying, now?" They got out of the pool and walked up to Makoto.

"Fine, fine…huh, Mako-chan, where's Haru-chan?"

Makoto had almost, _almost_ forgotten about Haruka. He tried to appear happy when he said, "H-Haru? Um, he went to the beach."

"Oh, I see. Rei-chan! Let's go to the beach! Maybe they have snorkeling equipment or kayaks!"

"Maybe we could just lay on the sand for a bit? Wouldn't that be relaxing?" Rei suggested. Nagisa began dragging him away.

"Oh, come on! You're never any fun!" They had made it a few feet before Nagisa said, "Ah, Mako-chan, aren't you coming?"

"Uh, I'll be there in a bit. I just need to go use the restroom. Satisfied with his answer, Nagisa proceeded to drag Rei away to the beach. Makoto went back to his chair and resumed thinking about Haruka.

* * *

After leaving the river, Haruka had walked straight past Kou and all the other sunbathers, and walked quickly into the ocean. He swam out a little bit, just so he'd be past the small children splashing each other, and floated on his back. Ever since the kiss, he couldn't stop blushing. _Does Makoto really like me like that?_ He thought. He wondered if he himself liked Makoto like that. He had never really paused to consider it before, but it suddenly seemed so obvious.

_I'm in love with Makoto,_ he thought. He couldn't help but wonder how long he'd been in love with his best friend. It seemed like they had known each other forever. All of a sudden, he couldn't stop thinking about what life would be like if he and Makoto were romantically involved. _Honestly_, he thought, _it wouldn't be much different than how we are now._ The realization brought a smile to his face. He pondered the possibility that maybe it wasn't the wisest decision to just leave Makoto alone by the river.

Haruka was about to get out of the ocean to find him, when a negative thought had crossed his mind. What if he didn't deserve Makoto? Or what if Makoto left him like everyone else did? He abruptly realized that he wanted to be alone, away from all the boisterous strangers that surrounded him. To the right of the beach, there was an area with a lot of palm trees that Haruka thought looked unpopulated. He swam towards them.

* * *

Makoto had eventually decided that he couldn't hide forever, and made his way to the beach. Once he got there, he noticed that Kou was sunbathing, and Rei and Nagisa were making sandcastles on the shore. He had no doubt that that activity must have been some sort of compromise between the two of them. He didn't see Haruka anywhere, so he went to go ask Kou, and when she said that she hadn't seen him, he asked Nagisa and Rei, but he received a similar response. It was only then that he noticed the trees. Normally Haruka liked being in water the best, but when he wanted to be alone, that was a different story. After taking a deep breath and mustering up some courage, he walked towards the palm trees.

It didn't take him long to find Haruka. He had picked a tree close to the water and had sat in the shade with his eyes closed. He let him be for a moment, and watched as the light came through the leaves to shine on his face in small, swaying dots. His hair was wet. He clearly hadn't been out of the ocean for very long. However, despite being in such a serene location, Makoto could tell that he wasn't at peace. It looked like he was forcing his eyes shut. His forehead was wrinkled, and he was frowning. He finally decided to speak up.

"H-Haruka?" His eyes snapped open, he almost looked afraid.

"M-Makoto? What are you doing here?" He had drawn his knees into his chest.

"I came to find you." Makoto sat down opposite of him.

'Why?"

'Well, I figured that we should…you know…talk." Haruka didn't say anything. He couldn't think of anything to say. That was a part of himself that he had always hated. He hated not ever knowing how to express himself. Usually, he didn't have that problem with Makoto. They had always understood each other just fine, using glances and body language to communicate.

"Listen, Haru. Before I say what I'm about to say, I want you to know that I don't want you to feel pressured to do anything. And, I don't want us to ever stop being friends." Makoto paused and looked directly into Haruka's eyes. "I love you, Haru. I'm not sure when this started or if its always been there, but I do. I know you probably don't feel the same about me, but…" his voice trailed off. He played with his hands nervously.

"Makoto," Haruka forced himself to make eye contact, "I-I love you too." Makoto's face lit up. His eyes and mouth widened and he couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief. He moved closer to Haruka, so he was kneeling right in front of his feet and his bent knees. He wrapped his arms around him. Haruka froze.

"I'm so happy to hear that! I thought that you might hate me…" He said, sitting back on his heels.

Quickly, Haruka dropped his legs off to his left and grabbed Makoto's hand, pulling him closer, until their noses were touching. Then, for the first time ever, Haruka kissed Makoto on the lips. They kept their mouths closed for the first few seconds, and then they slowly, awkwardly opened them. Haruka's face felt impossibly hot again, like his blood had turned into fire. Makoto interlaced his fingers with Haruka's, and took his other hand and placed it on the tree. They broke the kiss after a few moments and when they pulled away, neither could think of anything to say. Makoto turned and leaned against the tree, pulling Haruka into his lap. They sat there for a long while, watching the water peacefully.

Haruka was happy. Truly, he was. But, even though he tried, he couldn't get the negative thoughts out of his head. He placed his head against Makoto's shoulder and the tree, with the ominous feeling that something was going to go wrong.


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's note: A bit of a slower chapter here, but I don't want things progressing TOO quickly.**

**Enjoy! :)**

* * *

The rest of the day had passed quickly. Soon, all six of them were gathered in Kou and Ama—sensei's living room, eating dinner. Ama-sensei had made rice and Haruka had grilled fish for everyone. After they discussed the day's events, they ate in silence. Everyone was still very tired.

Haruka and Makoto had agreed to keep their relationship a secret, for now. It didn't seem like the right time to tell anyone. Plus, the fact that they currently shared a room would raise some eyebrows, indeed.

After dinner, everyone returned to their rooms to sleep. They decided that they would turn in early, so that they could be up and ready to go the following morning.

There was an awkwardness in the air when Makoto and Haruka got back to their room. They hadn't acted strange around each other since they left the shade of the tress hours prior. However, now a question was present in both of their minds. _Do we share a bed, now?_ They had shared a bed in the past. Usually, when Haruka went over Makoto's for a sleepover. But, this was different. Now, they were romantically involved. They took turns using the bathroom, silently showering and brushing their teeth.

"Listen," Haruka eventually said not being able to handle the silence anymore, "I think that maybe we should sleep in separate beds…for now."

Although Makoto wanted nothing more than to hold Haruka while they slept, he smiled and nodded. Glad, that he had finally acknowledged the elephant in the room. They both sank into their respective beds and slept in silence until Kou woke them up the next morning.

Later, they all packed themselves into the rental car and took off to the Valley of the Temples.

"So, Gou-chan, what exactly is the Valley of the Temples?" Nagisa had asked.

Kou turned around in the passenger seat and smiled, "I'm glad you asked." She pulled out a map of Oahu, "The Valley of the Temples is a large park which contains graves as well as places of worship, including a replica of part of the Byodo-In temple. I thought that we should go here because I thought that it would be fun to see something from our country. It's also supposed to be gorgeous."

She was right about that. They valley was situated on rolling green hills, next to tall, breathtaking mountains. When they reached the bridge to the temple, all of them stopped. None of them had felt remotely homesick, but none of them had ever been out of the country either. It was surreal to see something from home, when they were not actually at home. Nagisa snapped out of this thought first and jogged excitedly across the bridge.

"Come on, guys!" He called back to them. They followed.

Everyone split up almost instantly. Nagisa had dragged Rei over to the bon-sho and began ringing it, telling Rei that it was good luck to do so. Rei had responded that he already knew that. Ama-sensei and Kou had removed their shoes and entered the actual temple itself. They spent a long time admiring the Amida Buddha. Haruka had immediatly climbed a small set of stone stairs that led up to a waterfall and pond. He crouched and watched the koi swim slowly in circles. Makoto joined him.

"It's so peaceful isn't it, Haru?" Makoto asked. Haruka managed a small nod, and reached out to stoke the surface of the water. They sat on the grass, cross-legged in silence. They were truly alone. Makoto slowly reached over and took Haruka's hand in his. Haruka blushed. He felt his heart rate increase and he couldn't help but smile, just a little.

* * *

Their next stop was Laniakea beach. Kou had explained that it was sometimes referred to as "Turtle beach" because sea turtles were usually very prevalent there.

"I've never seen a turtle in the wild before? Do you think there will actually be some there?" Nagisa asked excitedly.

"There's a very good chance," said Kou.

Kou had been right. When they arrived at the beach, there were five turtles all relaxing on the shore. The beach was crowded, but they had managed to set up some beach chairs and blankets on the sand, close to some large rocks. Haruka had immediately gone into the water, while Kou and Ama-sensei sprawled out on their towels under an umbrella. Makoto had followed Haruka into the ocean.

"Rei-chan! Let's go see the sea turtles!" Nagisa said, and he hurried away to the nearest one, as Rei quickly followed him. There were some other people taking pictures with the turtle, so they waited for them to clear out before approaching it. Nagisa had reached out a hand to pat it on the head, but Rei grabbed his wrist.

"It's illegal to touch the turtles here," he explained.

"What? That's not fair!" Nagisa pouted for a moment, but not for long, "Hey, Rei-chan?"

"Hm?"

"What should we name the turtle?" As if the turtle realized they were talking about him, he raised his head and opened his previously shut eyes.

"How about…Tortuga?" Rei suggested.

"Huh? Why?"

"It means turtle in Spanish," Rei clarified.

"So, basically you want to name this turtle, 'turtle'? That's really lame…"

"Huh?! I don't think it's 'lame'! It sounds pretty cool to me!" All of a sudden, Kou appeared next to them with her camera.

"Smile boys!" She said and snapped a picture.

"Gou-chan, what do you think we should name this turtle?" Nagisa asked afterwards.

She pondered it for a moment before saying, "how about 'Shelly'?"

"…That might be even lamer than Rei-chan's suggestion!" Nagisa complained.

Kou sighed and went to go take pictures of Haruka and Makoto who were both swimming around lazily.

After a few moments the turtle suddenly and swiftly turned his head to the left and closed his eyes. "I know! I'll name this turtle, 'Rei'!" Exclaimed Nagisa.

"…You're…going to name a turtle after me?" Nagisa smiled and nodded. "Well, I'm flattered that you would name such a beautiful, majestic creature after me. Why? Is it because you find us both to be beautiful?"

Nagisa laughed. "No, nothing like that! He just moved in a very similar way that you do. The way he turned his head just now. If he had glasses on, he would look exactly like you!" He continued laughing. "You're a riot sometimes, you know that?"

Rei sighed. "I wasn't trying to be funny-"

"I brought a frisbee," Nagisa said suddenly cutting Rei off, "let's go play! Maybe we can get Gou-chan and Ama-chan to play too!" Nagisa took Rei's hand and pulled him towards their chairs and towels before he had any time to object.


	9. Chapter 9

**Author's Note: Some more fluff this time. Be warned, though, the fluff won't continue too much longer.**

* * *

The next night, Haruka decided to have a soak in the bathtub. He reflected on the day they had just had. It had been pretty laid-back, filled with a visit to the Dole plantation, breathtaking Hawaiian scenery, and more swimming back at the resort. At the plantation, Haruka and Makoto had shared pineapple ice cream. Other than mackerel, it was the most delicious thing that Haruka had ever tasted.

He submerged himself and shut his eyes. He was in a better mood than usual. He felt comfortably sleepy, the sort of sleepy that a good meal and a cup of tea brought about. The bath soothed him and he couldn't help, but smile. He felt so clean and relaxed. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.

"Haru? I know you like to stay in the bath for awhile, but don't you think two hours is enough?" Makoto asked, his voice muffled.

He hadn't realized it, but he was cold. The water had cooled considerably, and he wasn't wearing his bathing suit like he usually was. He surfaced. "I'll be out in a minute," he answered. As he stepped out of the tub and drained the water, he was shivering. His skin was dried, and his fingers looked like prunes. Usually, he would have put more water in the tub, but he forgot for some reason. He had only brought a pair of boxers into the bathroom with him. He pulled them on and opened the door. The air conditioning chilled him to the bone. His teeth chattered.

"Haru? You look frozen," Makoto said from the couch. He was watching some sort of late night talk show on the living room television.

"I'm fine. I just forgot a shirt is all."

"Your skin is purple," Makoto stood to have a closer look, "I'll turn down the A/C."

"Hey, I have a better idea," Haruka said when Makoto was halfway to the thermostat.

Haruka had wanted to take his relationship with Makoto slowly. But, something had changed the previous night. Only a couple hours after they had gone to sleep, Haruka had woken up from a nightmare. He could not remember what it had even been about. He had woken up in a cold sweat, his heart pounding. He was a little afraid, something that he rarely was. And for the first time, he wasn't thinking about wrapping himself up in water. He wasn't thinking about how good it would feel to feel the water against his skin. He was thinking about how good it would feel to be wrapped up in Makoto's arms. He thought about how good it would feel to feel Makoto's skin against his skin. The thought had perplexed him, and he knew why. He had never had any sort of physical intimacy with anyone in his life before. But, now he suddenly craved it, even with all the doubts and bad feelings he was having.

"Do you want to start sharing a bed, Makoto?" Haruka would never forget how his friend's face had turned bright red, before lighting up into a wide grin.

A few minutes later, they found themselves in what had originally been Makoto's bed. Neither of them had ever really cuddled with anyone before, so it was a bit awkward. Makoto suggested that they face the same direction with him on the outside, as he was quite a bit taller than Haruka. They did just that. Makoto's right arm reached out to wrap around Haruka's chest. He rested he forehead on Haruka's head and smelled the pleasantly spicy smell of his shampoo. They slowly intertwined their legs.

"Are you comfortable, Haru?" Makoto asked after a few minutes of silence. However, Haruka was already asleep, his body rising and falling slowly with each breath. Makoto smiled in the darkness and pulled the covers closer. Arching his neck, he planted a kiss on top of Haruka's head. "Good night," he whispered and quickly fell into a deep, wonderful sleep.

* * *

The next day, Nagisa uncharacteristically awoke before everyone else. After he changed, he tried to patiently wait on the couch for Rei to wake up, be he only made it a few minutes before his patience ran out. He went into the bedroom and looked at Rei. He was lying on his back, one arm above his head. Nagisia smiled to himself, took a few steps back to get a running start, and then launched himself onto Rei's stomach.

"Wake up, Rei-chan!" He called as he landed.

Rei awoke with a grunt. He was thoroughly confused about the immense pressure he felt on his abdomen. It took him a few seconds before he realized that the wind had been knocked out of him. He blindly reached for his glasses on the nightstand.

"What was that for?" He exclaimed when he was able to get his breath back. Nagisa was still sitting on him, grinning from ear to ear.

"We're going to the zoo! I got bored of waiting for you to get up." He stood.

"Couldn't you have woken me up like a normal person? I think you gave me a heart attack!" He heard his heart hammering away in his ears, as he swung his legs off the bed. Nagisa had already left the room to go wake up the others.

* * *

A few hours later, they were all in the city buying tickets to the zoo. Haruka had immediately headed off to the reptile exhibits. Makoto followed. Soon, they were enjoying themselves as they watched the turtles, crocodiles, and alligators swim around. Kou had excitedly wandered off towards the chimpanzee exhibit, with Ama-sensei in tow.

Soon, at Rei's suggestion, Nagisa and Rei had found themselves in front of the cheetah exhibit.

"Such beautiful creatures, built for such immense speed," Rei had said staring in awe at the large cats before him.

Nagisa looked at Rei, and then turned his attention to the cheetahs. One was licking its paw clean in the shade. "Do you wish you were like a cheetah?" He asked.

"Huh?"

"If you could be like any animal in the world, would it be a cheetah?"

Rei pondered the question. "Hmm, maybe. But, if I were like a cheetah, I'd have to join the track team again."

"In that case," said Nagisa, "there's absolutely no way that you can become like a cheetah. I need you, Rei-chan."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Rei asked and adjusted his glasses.

"I can't have you leaving the swim club, under any circumstances."

"…This conversation makes absolutely no sense." Rei said and began to walk away, blushing slightly.

"Ooh, can we go find the penguins, now?"

"There aren't any penguins in this zoo, didn't you look at the map at all?"

"What? What kind of zoo doesn't have any penguins?"

"This kind," said Rei and they both walked together to the next exhibit.


	10. Chapter 10

Time flew by during their vacation and soon, they only had two full days left before they had to pack up and leave. The day before, they had done a lot of shopping in the city. Makoto picked up souvenirs for his siblings. Haruka bought a dolphin for himself. It was made of glass and its blue-green color danced in the sunlight.

They spent their penultimate full day relaxing at the resort. Well, most of them relaxed. Nagisa wanted to try cliff diving. Naturally, he dragged Rei with him.

"This is a really dumb idea," Rei kept saying.

"I can't come all the way to Hawaii and not do something that I've always wanted to try," said Nagisa, "you don't have to jump if you don't want to." He looked back at Rei who was walking close behind him up the steep incline they were currently on, "well, as long as you go on the slide with me before we leave, that is," He smiled.

"Not that again," Rei sighed.

They reached the top of the cliff pretty quickly. The resort was behind them and to their right. It was sort of far from the beach, but they swore they could see Haruka and Makoto swimming close together in the water. They waved even though they knew there was no way they would see them. They walked to the edge.

"Wow, this really is quite high," Nagisa said.

There was a sign next to the edge that read:

_Jump from this point ONLY!_

It was written in the same, swirly font that the resort used for everything.

"If you're really going to do this, you have to jump from here," Rei pointed out, knowing that Nagisa was not observing the sign at all.

"But, this is _really_ high up. There's another cliff down there. It's shorter," He pointed down to his left.

"Did you not expect it to be high up?" Rei questioned, and then looked around, "hey, there aren't any lifeguards or anything around. Maybe you shouldn't do this. Cliff diving must only be available certain times." He spotted another sign to his right with the same swirly font, leaning against a palm tree:

_No jumping when lifeguards are not on duty!_

"We should come back another time-" Rei said, but stopped when he realized that Nagisa was no longer standing there. He turned to his left just in time to see him standing at the edge of the shorter cliff. He grinned. Then, he jumped. "Nagisa!" Rei yelled. He sprinted to where he had just jumped from and looked down, worried. The waves crashed against the cliff walls, and there were extra ripples where Nagisa had landed. It didn't take Rei long to notice the rocks that were waiting at the bottom of the cliff.

"Nagisa!" He called again, but he didn't surface. _Why didn't he look first?_ He thought. He stood there panicked for a few seconds, heart racing as he made a quick decision. He sprinted back to the tall cliff and didn't even hesitate. He jumped. It felt like an eternity before he hit the water.

He surfaced and immediately swam over to where Nagisa had landed. Luckily, the current wasn't strong today. The waves were relatively small. He called out his name again, but to no avail. He began ducking randomly under the water, until he felt something soft and pulled on it. He had managed to bring Nagisa's head out of the water. He wasn't responding. Rei felt like someone had stabbed him in the chest. He was exhausted, panicked, and couldn't see very well, as he had lost he glasses during the jump. Putting both arms around Nagisa, he flipped around and began kicking. He hoped that he wasn't too late.

It took awhile, but he eventually made it to the beach. He was tired, but he was also lucky that Nagisa didn't weigh a lot. He dragged Nagisa's unresponsive body onto the sand and nearly collapsed beside him. He took a moment to breathe before looking at friend. His eyes widened in shock. Nagisa's leg was covered in blood. He had a gash on his left thigh that wasn't clotting. He slowly put an ear to his chest, and was relieved to find that his heart was still beating. He was also breathing. It sounded weak. Rei managed a sigh of relief before he picked him up and ran towards the lifeguard. He was pretty far away, so Rei knew he couldn't just call out for help. Soon, when he was within earshot Rei called out, "help! Help me!" The lifeguard leapt out of his chair and ran over. Dozens of vacationers gasped, some screamed. It didn't take long before Haruka, Makoto, Kou, and Ama-sesei were standing next to him.

"What happened?" Rei heard them calling out, but all he could do was watch the lifeguard bandage Nagisa's profusely bleeding leg. He radioed for an ambulance. Rei wanted to go with him, but Ama-sensei said she should, as she was the only adult. Only once Nagisa was loaded in, with Ama-sensei in tow, did he collapse to the ground and tell everyone else the story. Halfway through, he realized he was crying.


	11. Chapter 11

**Author's Note: I am very sorry for the delay! School picked up, I got sick for 2 weeks, and then when I started to write this chapter, my computer crashed. Anyway, this was originally going to be the penultimate chapter, but I realized that it was going to be too long if I did that, so now there will be two more chapters left after this, most likely. **

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Ama-sensei hailed a cab at the hospital and returned a few hours later. When she got back to her room, she found everyone in her living room, fidgeting worriedly. Rei jumped up from his spot on the couch and ran over to her. The rest followed.

"How is he doing? Will he be okay?"Everyone seemed to ask in unison, eyes wide, hearts pounding.

"He'll be fine. They stitched up his leg, and he has a concussion. He'll be spending the night, but he'll be back tomorrow." Everyone sighed with relief.

"I want to go visit him," said Rei, "please drive me to the hospital," he begged Ama-sensei.

Ama-sensei considered it for a moment and then decided that it would be for the best, "alright, but we have to go now. Visiting hours will be over soon." Makoto, Haruka, and Kou asked if they could come too, but Ama-sensei told them that the doctor said that Nagisa needed space. Bringing that many people might be a little too much for him to handle, especially in his concussed state. So, Rei and Ama-sensei left for the hospital, and Makoto and Haruka decided to return to their room, leaving Kou to make herself some dinner.

The car ride to the hospital seemed to take forever to Rei. Although Ama-sensei's words had calmed him a bit, he still couldn't get the image of Nagisa bleeding on the beach out of his mind. He needed to see for himself that he was okay.

Eventually, they pulled into the hospital, parked the van, and walked inside.

"Hello, we're here to see Nagisa Hazuki," said Ama-sensei to the woman at the reception desk.

"Go down that hallway," she motioned behind her and to the left, "he's in the fourth room on your right." They thanked her and walked down the hallway.

"Listen, try not to get too worked up. He's going to be fine," Ama-sensei said, unexpectedly.

"Huh?" Rei asked.

"You seemed so worked up back there, both on the beach and in the room. You don't seem much better now, either," she turned to him with a smile, "try to stay calm for him."

"I am perfectly calm," Rei said unconvincingly. He adjusted his glasses. Ama-sensei smiled at him, and then opened the door that had appeared in front of them.

Nagisa was sitting almost all the way up, propped up against a pillow on his hospital bed. His head was bandaged and he was covered with a blanket from the chest down. His hands sat intertwined on his stomach. He looked surprised to see them. A grin quickly appeared on his face.

"You came to visit me!" He said, excitedly, "where's everyone else?"

"Oh, I'm so sorry. The doctor said we shouldn't crowd you, so I told them they couldn't come. But, you seem to be doing quite well," said Ama-sensei.

"That's okay. I'll see Haru-chan and the others tomorrow anyway," he averted his gaze from Ama-sensei and looked over at Rei, "I'm so glad your here, Rei-chan." Rei didn't respond, and suddenly Ama-sensei felt like a third wheel.

"Uh...I'm gonna run to the bathroom," she said a little too quickly, and then disappeared back out the door. Rei walked over, and pulled a plastic chair over to Nagisa's bedside.

"Rei," Nagisa said, suddenly serious as if he knew what was coming, "I'm so sorry. I should have never jumped off that cliff. I'm sorry that I did, and I'm sorry that you had to save me. You're a beginner swimmer, and you could've gotten hurt too..." his voice trailed off. He looked out his window, away from Rei's gaze.

Rei raised his right hand and intertwined his fingers with Nagisa's.

"Rei-" Nagisa said, shocked.

"Don't ever scare me like that again," he said, looking away from Nagisa, clearly blushing. Nagisa couldn't help but laugh.

"W-what's so funny?" Rei asked.

"You're so serious!"

"This is a serious issue!" Rei exclaimed, but Nagisa was too busy laughing. Rei stood, and leaned over Nagisa, so that their faces were only a couple inches apart. Nagisa stopped laughing. Rei debated kissing him, but he wasn't so sure he should, as having one's first kiss in a hospital didn't seem all that beautiful, in his opinion. So he pressed his lips to the bandages on Nagisa's forehead, and left it at that.

"Get well soon, Nagisa." he said. Ama-sensei opened the door a split second later.

"The doctor says we have to go now. It's getting late."

"Right," said Rei and walked over to the door.

"Goodbye, we'll be back tomorrow to pick you up. Rest well until then," said Ama-sensei.

"Y-yeah, see you then," Nagisa said, uncharacteristically quiet. Rei smiled at him, shut the door, and left.

* * *

When Haruka and Makoto went back to their room, they discovered a surprise waiting for them on their kitchen table.

"Wine?!" Makoto had exclaimed when he saw it. Haruka picked up the card that accompanied it:

_Dear Miho Amakata, _

_We hope you enjoyed your vacation with us. Please take this complementary bottle of wine. Thank you for staying with us. _

_-Honu Resort_

"Makoto, they delivered this to the wrong room. It's for Ama-sensei," said Haruka.

"Really? Well, I guess we should go give it to her," said Makoto. Haruka turned over the card and saw that something was written on the back, in different hand writing:

_I don't care for red wine. It would be a shame for it to go to waste. Enjoy!_

_-Ama-sensei_

"Wait, Makoto," Haruka said, and showed him the back of the card.

"What? Why did she give it to us? We're not even old enough to drink!" Makoto was shocked.

"Why not give it a try?" Haruka suggested.

Makoto was taken aback, "really? You want to?"

"Sure, why not? We can have some with dinner. I'll make mackerel."

"That's not going to go well with this," Makoto pointed out, "in the movies, people drink wine with pasta and marinara sauce. We should do that."

Haruka looked disappointed.

"I mean, you could eat mackerel on the side if you want, but I'm going to make us some pasta. Let me do the cooking for once," Makoto said with a smile, and then put some water on to boil.


End file.
